The Specialty Coffee Quality Rating as a Measure of Product Differentiation and Price Signal to Growers: an Entropy Analysis of E-Auction Data

Demand and Price Analysis,

Price Determinants in Top Quality E-Auctioned Specialty Coffees

The US specialty coffee industry has grown from $1 billion in 1990 to$11 billion in 2006 and is expected to continue to grow into the foreseeable future. This growth particularly depends on prices coordinating the specialty coffee supply chain through two-way information exchange between roasters and producers. We analyze the determinants of specialty coffee prices by estimating a hedonic price function for specialty Central and South American coffees traded at e-auctions. We hypothesize that since specialty coffee is a differentiated product, prices will be determined by both sensory and reputation attributes. The results show that prices are influenced by the quality rating, which is a sensory variable, and by the quality rankings established in the cupping competition previous to the auction, the country of origin and the coffee variety, which are reputation variables. In addition, the macro variables, harvest year and commodity price were found to be significant.Specialty coffee, hedonic price analysis, differentiated food pricing, sensory attributes, reputation attributes, Demand and Price Analysis,

What Adds Value in Specialty Coffee? Managerial Implications from Hedonic Price Analysis of Central and South American E-Auctions

We analyze price and quality information at the procurement level in the specialty coffee supply chain using data from small and large volume e-auctions. Hedonic price equations reveal that the Cup of Excellence auction is a more differentiated market disclosing more information about coffee values associated with ratings, rankings, quantities available, and country reputations whereas information in the Q auction is more limited and tends to be remunerated to a lesser extent. These results indicate that there are different business models and valuation of product characteristics within the specialty coffee industry. Management implications are drawn for specialty coffee producers and roasters.specialty coffee, e-auctions, hedonic analysis, business models, Demand and Price Analysis,

Alcohol-related brain damage in humans

Chronic excessive alcohol intoxications evoke cumulative damage to tissues and organs. We examined prefrontal cortex (Brodmann’s area (BA) 9) from 20 human alcoholics and 20 age, gender, and postmortem delay matched control subjects. H & E staining and light microscopy of prefrontal cortex tissue revealed a reduction in the levels of cytoskeleton surrounding the nuclei of cortical and subcortical neurons, and a disruption of subcortical neuron patterning in alcoholic subjects. BA 9 tissue homogenisation and one dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) proteomics of cytosolic proteins identified dramatic reductions in the protein levels of spectrin β II, and α- and β-tubulins in alcoholics, and these were validated and quantitated by Western blotting. We detected a significant increase in α-tubulin acetylation in alcoholics, a non-significant increase in isoaspartate protein damage, but a significant increase in protein isoaspartyl methyltransferase protein levels, the enzyme that triggers isoaspartate damage repair in vivo. There was also a significant reduction in proteasome activity in alcoholics. One dimensional PAGE of membrane-enriched fractions detected a reduction in β-spectrin protein levels, and a significant increase in transmembranous α3 (catalytic) subunit of the Na+,K+-ATPase in alcoholic subjects. However, control subjects retained stable oligomeric forms of α-subunit that were diminished in alcoholics. In alcoholics, significant loss of cytosolic α- and β-tubulins were also seen in caudate nucleus, hippocampus and cerebellum, but to different levels, indicative of brain regional susceptibility to alcohol-related damage. Collectively, these protein changes provide a molecular basis for some of the neuronal and behavioural abnormalities attributed to alcoholics

Effect of Sensory and Reputation Quality Attributes on Specialty Coffee Prices

We apply the hedonic technique to specialty coffees traded at the Cup of Excellence electronic auction. The hedonic model includes sensory and reputation variables. We discuss the significance and value of the coefficient estimates in the context of this evolving industry

Linking Agricultural Research with the Agribusiness Community from a Pro-Poor Perspective: the Importance of Human Capital Development

Improved crop varieties are a key output of agricultural research and have contributed to significantin-creases in agricultural production and productivity However, the benefitsfrom advances in plant breeding have often not reached the majority of poor farmers. This essay tackles the challenge of enhancing human capital development in the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in order to enhance impact on food security and poverty reduction. Key changes in strategic planning, leadership, organizational alignment, talent and performance culture along with the need for new ways of thinking and action are outlined

What Adds Value in Specialty Coffee? Managerial Implications from Hedonic Price Analysis of Central and South American E-Auctions

We analyze price and quality information at the procurement level in the specialty coffee supply chain using data from small and large volume e-auctions. Hedonic price equations reveal that the Cup of Excellence auction is a more differentiated market disclosing more information about coffee values associated with ratings, rankings, quantities available, and country reputations whereas information in the Q auction is more limited and tends to be remunerated to a lesser extent. These results indicate that there are different business models and valuation of product characteristics within the specialty coffee industry. Management implications are drawn for specialty coffee producers and roasters

Price Determinants in Top Quality E-Auctioned Specialty Coffees

The US specialty coffee industry has grown from $1 billion in 1990 to$11 billion in 2006 and is expected to continue to grow into the foreseeable future. This growth particularly depends on prices coordinating the specialty coffee supply chain through two-way information exchange between roasters and producers. We analyze the determinants of specialty coffee prices by estimating a hedonic price function for specialty Central and South American coffees traded at e-auctions. We hypothesize that since specialty coffee is a differentiated product, prices will be determined by both sensory and reputation attributes. The results show that prices are influenced by the quality rating, which is a sensory variable, and by the quality rankings established in the cupping competition previous to the auction, the country of origin and the coffee variety, which are reputation variables. In addition, the macro variables, harvest year and commodity price were found to be significant